About a month ago I took my car in for a "Vehicle check" at 90K. Everything checked out great except they detected the motor had failed that moves the steering column up and down. The new motor was ordered, and 2 weeks later I returned to the dealership (out of warranty at this point) for the repair installation and also to have them adjust the emergency parking brake.

They gave me a silver F10 528i which I had for 2 weeks. The reason they had my car so long is because the replacement motor did not solve the issue, and they had to order an entire steering column (over $2k, still covered under the expired warranty). During this time I was able to thoroughly get to know the F10, it's key features, driving characteristics, and faults.

F10 N20 First Impressions:

Every time I get in the car I would have to turn it on, then turn off the Start/Stop, then click it into sport mode. I wish it would remember these settings to the key fob, because if you have to run a lot of errands it gets annoying to have to re-push the buttons every time you get in the car. I'm sorry, I just can't get used to the Start/Stop tech..

However, in sport mode the N20 is a BEAST! One of the smoothest 4-cylinders I've ever driven. The transmission though is nuts at times. Its constantly, and I mean constantly, shifting gears. :thumbsdown: Yet it achieves amazing gas mileage compared to my stick shift N52 E60, even with keeping it in sport mode and not using the Start/Stop.

All around the F10 is an incredible 5 series. It is beautiful from any angle, and the interior is fantastic. And the stock(not premium) stereo system is great as well. But still the car is huge feeling, and the steering is butter soft. I've driven other F10s before and the M-Sport is a must for me, but it was still awesome to have this F10 to my self for a couple weeks.

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Back to the story.

I returned the F10, and got my car back. Everything was great but I noticed from driving in traffic that after braking, the rear of the car was wobbling as if the parking brakes were adjusted too tight and somehow grabbing. This was nuts, and felt as if a wheel was about to pop off. The dealership sent a tow truck to pick up my car and I was issued another loaner, this time a F10 328i.

F30 First Impressions:

Same motor and tranny as the F10, but way better feel because of the lighter, smaller car. Quicker, more sporty, but still butter soft steering. :thumbsdown: Also, the non Xenon headlights DO NOT have any type Corona rings. The interior also has more hard plastic in places where the E9x had softer interior pieces(center console, dash). Something also that should be noted is that the driver's footwell floor panel is not flat. This is the first car I've ever driven where the floor panel is at an angle down towards the pedals, something like a cockpit. Kinda takes some getting used to when getting in and out of the car.

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Saturday around 11 am I was driving the F30 on a busy 4 lane road. I got in a left turn lane as the traffic in the two strait lanes was stopped and backed up. I was cursing down the turn lane towards the intersection (had a green light) when a lady in a Toyota Highlander pulled rite out in front of me like an idiot!! She was snaking through the stopped traffic and apparently one of the stopped cars flagged her through. She never looked to see me coming. I held down the horn, she never even flinched, I had to slam on the brakes and I drilled her in her driver's front fender/door/rear door. This all happened within just a few seconds.. If she had looked before pulling out this whole accident could have been avoided. If she would have actually stopped when I had honked at her, we would have maybe still impacted, but not nearly as bad. In fact, because she never stopped, her Highlander drug along the front corner of my F30 causing the damage to extend from her front drivers door along whole side to the back quarter panel..

No one was hurt in the crash (thank God!). The F30 got it's passenger side headlight pushed in and needs a new bumper, hood, fender. However it was still drivable, no airbags deployed on either vehicle. I didn't take any pics of the banged up F30 mostly because I was SUPER PISSED OFF and couldn't even think straight.

Any way, the officer came and made a report placing the fault on her for pulling out in front of me. She told the lady driver "you can never rely on someone in another car flagging you through traffic.."

Thankfully she did have insurance and its covering the damages to both cars. My insurance is unaffected . Don Jacobs BMW dealership was extremely nice and helpful throughout this entire experience. And after 2 weeks, over $2K in out-of-warranty work done, 2 loaners and 1 returned banged up I got my car back and all this cost me was the $53 warranty deductible.

Sorry for the long read, but I wanted to share this experience with you guys.

P.S. I like my E60 hands down better than the F10 or F30

 

Sorry for your trouble, but nice to get the reviews of F10 and F30. I'm always happy to get back in my 8-year old 545 after turning in my dealer loaners. At times, I'm tempted about trading mine, but then after driving it a bit, it always reminds me that it is pretty hard to beat.

 

Great recap.

I had a 2010 F10 528 when my E60 was not producing heat in the cabin. They replaced the water valves which did not solve the issue. The dealer ended up replacing both heater cores after consulting BMW. Once again my cost for parts and 2+ days of shop time was just the $50 which really shows the value of the CPO. To me its a good way to get some idea if the car is well screwed together of if it was 2 for 1 at the Hofbrauhaus the day before the build date!

I think the F10 is an evolutionary step from the E60. Of course I was more than happy to get my 530 with the full 255 horses and manual transmission in place of the detuned 6 that was in the 528 before they put the 4s in.

 

Great post- thank you for sharing!

I loved my 2003 530i with a manual, but those 360 horsies under the hood make me forget her every time I hit an on-ramp!